Dog Days are Over
by ARPfics
Summary: When Lily Moskowitz narrowly avoids a brutal attack, she must leave New York City and invent a new life for herself. She wasn't expecting anything like Lima, Ohio, its backwards high school, the failing glee club or the tenacious boy named Artie Abrams.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I don't even know why I'm attempting another long piece. I've been bored and snowed in all week and this is the result. Feedback is always appreciated!

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_"She hid around corners… and from it she fled."_

October 2009

"Falco, we've got another rape victim," Detective Fontana just shook his head as they entered the witness examination room. He handed off the file to his Junior assistant. "Could you work your charm on her?"

"He didn't rape me," the girl shocked her head and looked up. Her makeup was completely ruined, mascara smeared down her face. She was young and pretty. She had a broad, friendly Asian face that looked like she smiled easily. Her mouth was twisted up in an expression somewhere between fear and rage, an expression that Fontana saw every day. "He almost did. He got my friend."

Fontana shook his head, realizing that the girl was horrified. She was shaking in her inappropriately thin red dress. Her bright lips matched exactly. She was probably freezing. He sat down carefully across the table from her. "Start from the beginning. You were out with some friends?"

"Yeah, me and a bunch of girls went clubbing."

"You seem a bit young to get into bars," Falco interrupted.

"I'm 21!" She said boldly.

Falco threw her ID onto the table haphazardly. "This says you're 19."

"Yeah, well, almost 20 in a few months."

"Anyway, continue the story." Fontana looked up at the junior detective pointedly.

"I'm just saying she looks like she could be 15."

"That's enough, Falco," now Detective Fontana rolled his eyes and looked at the girl again. He was always getting in the way, making wise comments. Fontana glanced at the girl's ID. "I'm sorry, what were you saying, Lily?"

"We got in because my friend knows the manager. It's nothing major really. It's not like we drink or anything. Anyway, we were there for like a good hour and I realized these guys were watching us. It was creepy, so we left, but they followed us. They pulled down my friend and they started like, attacking her and I ran. I just ran," the girl broke down suddenly and started crying.

"Did you get a look at the guys?"

"Yeah, big guys. They had really big, weird star tattoos."

"It was a gang," Falco looked up at Fontana, eager to be right.

For once, Fontana just nodded coldly. "Yeah, and they must have seen you, Lily. You've got to get out of New York."

"What do you mean? My folks live in Brooklyn."

"They'll find you. They always go after the ones that get away… and they might be hungry for blood now that they know you saw them."

Her eyes were wide with innocence. "You mean-"

"Yep. They'll kill you." Fontana saidd solemnly. "Get out of the state as soon as possible. Don't even get your stuff. Change your name, go to some small town in Ohio or something. You'll be safe outside the city."

"You mean like those guys that wear ski masks in the witness protection program?"

"Not quite. We don't have the secret service or anything to protect you, but you'll be alright. Just don't tell anybody the truth. Don't even tell them your real name."

Lily Moscowitz just stared up at the detectives in shook. She nodded, knowing exactly what she had to do.

* * *

Lily somehow managed to explain the whole story to her parents in a shaky voice on the pay phone in the Port Authority bus terminal. They agreed; it was probably the best idea to get out of the state as soon as possible. By the time she managed to get a bus ticket, it was almost morning. She managed to buy some track pants, a sweat shirt and flip flops at the 24 hour pharmacy and ditched the red dress for good. It felt nice just to wash her face and pretend to be normal for a bit. But she knew her definition of normal was about to change well into the foreseeable future.

Her life had actually been pretty uneventful so far. As far as she knew, she'd been born to a immigrant Chinese family in Brooklyn that had been unable to care for her. She was placed in a foster home and was eventually adopted by the Moscowitz family, a nice Russian American couple in Bay Ridge. She'd gotten decent grades in a local charter school and now attended a local city college. She was a sophomore now and still didn't quite know what her major would be, maybe Literature or French. She loved language, even if it wasn't very practical. She could probably get into college in Ohio if she wanted.

She wasn't sure what she wanted. Her family didn't know anybody in Ohio, so she'd basically be on her own. Her bus was headed for Chicago and she knew she'd get off at one of the stops before the windy city. She was tired of city life. Her parents had agreed to deposit some money in her bank account to tide her over and she'd have to find a motel or something for the time being. It was all just temporary. The thought of starting over was overwhelming and as soon as Lily's head hit the back of her bus seat, she fell asleep.

She woke up a few hours later, the sun glaring into her eyes, totally confused and a bit hung over. Of course she'd been lying to those police officers. She wasn't about to ruin a good club hook up just to bust some gang dudes… even if they were out to kill her. She shook her head and looked out at the highway for some sign of life. They must be somewhere in Pennsylvania, she thought. Sure enough, there was a milage counter up ahead. They were traveling on highway 80 and different cities were listed and everything seemed so far apart. They must be hours from anywhere. Lily started digging through her scant belongings, just to be doing something. She'd been carrying a fancy clutch to the night club and the only things inside were a credit card, a metrocard so she could get home, her keys, her dead cell phone and a tiny notebook and pencil. She carried one everywhere, even though her friends made fun of her. It came in handy.

She turned to an empty page and wrote _TO DO_ in her tidy script.

-_buy clothes_, she wrote, looking down at her excuse of an outfit. She hadn't even worn stuff like this in high school when she wasn't feeling good. She liked to look presentable, especially if she was gonna go looking for a job or something.

-_find a place to stay_. A motel would be fine, but it'd be nice to know she had a home base for now. She wasn't due to arrive in Ohio till late afternoon.

-_find a job_

-_or school_, she jotted in quick succession. She knew she needed something to do and quick. She could be a pretty intense person and being bored was the worst feeling. Suddenly, her stomach turned over due to nerves or hunger or maybe both and as soon as she was about to write that she needed food, the bus pulled into a rest stop. It was oddly satisfying.

A little while later, back on the bus and full on chips and coffee, Lily fell back asleep. She was overwhelmed and couldn't think about everything that was happening. She slept all the way through Pennsylvania and half way through Ohio. She woke as the sun was setting on the midwest. The bus was stopped at red light, the traffic signal swaying wearily from an electric wire. Lily stared up at it, she'd only seen small town America in movies. She looked out her window, at the small strip malls, late model station wagons and dainty medical offices. There was a miniature garden planted at the crosswalk with a small sign detailing who had worked on it. It all seemed so simple; a life that Lily had never really believed existed. The bus sped up through the green light and turned a couple times until pulling into the bus station. "Lima, Ohio and Ohio State University. Next stop, Fort Wayne, Indiana," the bus driver announced.

Lily stood suddenly and made her way to the front of the bus. This was perfect, maybe she could go to OSU or something and anyway, it was getting dark. She smiled at the bus driver and thanked him politely. She wondered what this small town had to offer... and where she could get a burger.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thanks for the two reviews! I would love to get more. :s I'm going pretty slow with this story, but there should be more updates on their way.

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Lily crossed the empty parking lot, looking around hopelessly. There was a strip mall across the street, but that seemed to the only signs of life besides a few small offices and houses. She headed for the street, but caught sight of a young man leaning against a pickup truck. He looked up at her suddenly and ran his hand through his short mohawk. "Hey, beautiful," he called, wagging his eyebrows.

Lily just stared at him because she was pretty sure she looked awful. He didn't seem to care, he was probably one of those guys that would get with anything female. She did the same thing she did to any of the many guys she'd seen like that in Brooklyn. She ignored him and walked right by. She crossed the street and decided her first stop would be the small boutique to find some suitable clothes. A little bell rang above her head as Lily walked through the door. A stylish black girl eyed her with a smile from behind the counter. "You must be new," the girl stated.

"I - uh - yeah, I am." Lily said simply.

"What's your name? You're gonna be going to McKinley?"

"Uh-" Lily's eyes roamed the store quickly. The detective's words kept coming back, don't tell anyone your name. She stared at the girl's tee shirt for a moment too long. "Tina," she smiled, naming the singer whose face was printed on the shirt.

"Cool, I'm Mercedes," the black girl just smiled, seeming so unfazed by anything Lily/Tina said. "I'm a Sophomore."

"Yeah, me too," Lily/Tina said before realizing the girl probably meant sophomore in high school.

"Great, maybe we'll have some classes together."

"Uh- yeah, maybe," Tina just shrugged. What was she getting herself into?

"So you need some clothes? What's your style?"

Lily/Tina blinked; at this point she couldn't even think straight. "I don't know. I like black," because it made her hips look amazing. "I can't spend too much."

"Girl, that's my specialty," Mercedes smiled and started pulling some outfits off the walls. It all looked very gothic and not like Lily's usual fashionable style at all. She liked smooth lines and followed the latest trends with no regrets. She often had dreams of being on the cover of magazines. Maybe a change will do you good, she thought. Make a fresh start. Lily smiled as Mercedes handed her the outfits and she cooperated, trying them on. They were so weird and dark, but strangely, Lily was attracted to the change. It was like she was making a new identity: Tina.

Tina wasn't just some foster kid who got lost in the crowd. No, Tina did things her own way. She had her own parents - the Changs. No, that was too Asian and Tina wasn't sure she could pull it off. Her name would be Cohen-Chang and her mom would be Jewish like she was. Tina wore black and didn't apologize for who she was. She was quiet, but also fierce and independent. Even as Lily looked in the mirror wearing the new clothes, she knew she could not go back. She was Tina now.

Mercedes complimented her as she modeled the clothes, "you look amazing." Tina smiled, she felt amazing.

Tina worked up the courage to say, "I was wondering, my parents are out of town," which was true. "Do you know a place I could stay?"

"Of course! You can stay at my place whenever you want. My dad can drive us to school tomorrow."

Tina was about to explain how that was OK, she didn't need to go to high school. Suddenly she realized just how easy it would be. People thought she was 15 all the time, even the detective had said so. If that gang ever came looking for her, she could just pretend she was just an innocent high school kid. After all, high school was a joke. She could coast for another two and a half years easy. She looked at Mercedes, who seemed so friendly. She was too scared to leave this new connection, to be alone again. It seemed she really had no choice in the matter. She was going to be in high school again.

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"What the hell is this place?" Tina muttered to herself the next morning, staring out at the school yard of William McKinley high school. Her old school had been nothing like this; she'd attended a special charter school for humanities back in Brooklyn. This place seemed to be a zoo, worse than the public schools near her apartment. Kids were openly getting insulted, beat up and worse and there didn't seem to be any staff in sight. It was so obvious what side everyone was on. There was no middle ground here. You were a winner or a loser, just by the clothes that you wore. Tina looked down at her own stripped socks, plaid skirt, black tank top and necklace strung with keys. She was a loser, that much was obvious. Back in Brooklyn, people always complimented Lily's fashion sense, but there'd be none of that here. A jock just looked at Tina's outfit and laughed.

Mercedes generously guided her to the office, where she registered herself and received a schedule. No one even thought to ask for her paperwork. Filling out the forms, Lily realized what a great idea this was. It was the middle of the semester; there was no way Ohio State would let her take anything. It took months to get all your transcripts and stuff transferred to the right department. McKinley High might be ridiculous, but it was definitely the easy way out.

"I wonder where Kurt is," Mercedes looked around as they left the office. "I can't wait for you to meet him. You'll love him." She smiled as if she might have a little crush on this Kurt guy. Tina smiled; she knew what that was like. She wondered if there were any good guys at this school, even if they were all too young for her. It wasn't like it was illegal to look or anything.

Two jocks rounded the corner, both laughing and kidding around like they were having the time of their life. One looked completely full of himself, wearing his hair in a mohawk and this smug look like he ruled the world. After a moment, she recognized him from that parking lot. Tina noticed a few kids backing away as he approached. People really seemed like they were afraid of him here. Were the punks the ones that got all the respect around here? Even though it was probably true everywhere, it seemed kind of backwards now in retrospect.

The other jock actually looked like a decent guy. He looked a bit self conscious, like he wondered how he'd ended up hanging out with the bad guy. It wasn't so noticeable, but Tina had been around enough to recognize it. They both looked like they could easily be in their twenties, but Tina just shrugged. It just went to show you that looks don't count for a lot. Heck, she was supposed to be what, 15 now? It was going to be a long school year.

Mercedes shoved Tina hard in the ribs with her elbow, "stop staring," she hissed, looking up at the jocks with a fake smile. "They'll kill you."

"That one guy doesn't look too bad," Tina muttered back.

"Finn?" Mercedes just shook her head. "He's just not smart enough to know better."

The boy with the mohawk wagged his eyebrows suggestively at the pair of them, obviously caring more about their gender than about their popularity. Mercedes took Tina by the arm and started walking towards their first period. "You see, this school is like a caste system. All that matters is how popular you are."

"Well, that punk didn't seem to care much," Tina just shrugged. "and neither do I." She felt like that's something Tina would say. Usually, she did care. She dressed to impress. She wasn't exactly looking to make friends with 16 year olds though. This was just temporary.

A broad smile spread on Mercedes' face. "I knew I'd like you."


End file.
